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Writtle Wanderers RUFC |
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Writtle Wanderers RUFC |
December 2004 Match Reports
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Scorers:
Tries: Iles 4, Clark, Howarth,
Janes, Richards
Convs: Clark 3, Dempsey
Pen: Clark
Man of the Match: Nick Iles
Iles Piles on the Points!
With Witham struggling in the lower reaches of Division 3 and our two main rivals, Clacton and Pegasus/Palmerians, playing each other, this was an important opportunity for us to get some points on the board to improve our overall points difference. In a game which we dominated from the start, we could perhaps have scored a few more points, but with eight tries we broke the 50 point barrier for the first time since the start of the season against Old Bealonians!
Nick Iles had a fantastic day on the wing, running in four good tries with Tim Janes and Steve Clark adding another one each. Martyn Howarth, starting at blindside but switching to No. 8 after Graham Gillett's injured ankle proved not to have fully recovered, scored for the pack with a pushover and Glen Richards dived over from short range for another.
With Clacton just edging out Pegasus in a tight game at the seaside, this good win gives the table topping Wanderers an extra cushion as we head towards the halfway point of the season with Ongar to play next week.
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Scorers:
Tries: Clark 6, Janes 2
Convs: Clark 5
Man of the Match: Steve Clark
Seven out of Seven!
A short trip down the A414 to play our local Essex 3 rivals, Ongar, saw the Writtle Wanderers complete a full house of victories against our Essex Division 3 opponents. With half the season gone, we have now beaten all the other sides in the Division - six of them on the field and one by walkover.
With Ongar struggling in the bottom half of the table, this looked like it should be an easy game and the score-line would seem to support this. However, the Ongar side put up one of the best forward displays we have come up against this season and we were required to defend our line for long periods. It is a credit to our defence that we only let one score through!
Steve Clark, with an individual haul of 40 points was obviously the star performer in a game which also saw the return to arms of Ant Rantell and John Blanchfield - two key members of the pack who have been out with injuries for a few weeks. The most memorable of Clark's tries was an effort from his own 22 which saw him sidestep and swerve his way down the touchline beating half a dozen defenders to cross the line!
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Scorers:
Tries: Sotriades, Cook, Littlechild
Conv: Young
Man of the Match: Stuart Thurgood
Sorry, no report submitted...
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Scorers:
Tries: Clark 3, Janes, Richards, S.
Rowe
Convs: Clark 2, Cleare
Man of the Match: Sam Rowe
Wanderers Enjoy the Festive Spirit!
The Wanderers made their first ever visit to the picturesque Saffron Walden club, actually based just outside the village of Henham north of Stansted, not really sure what level of opposition to expect. SW 1st XV are currently lying 2nd in London 3 North East, so potentially their 3rd XV would be a tricky side with a mixture of old heads and youthful enthusiasm!
There was something of a festive spirit during our warm up, which spilled over into the first few minutes of the game with the Writtle side knocking on the kick off. However, the following scrum was won against the head and the Wanderers were able to spin the ball out wide for Steve Clark to open the scoring in his typical fashion - the exceptionally long grass seeming to be the only thing that might have had a chance to stop him!
The restart was again knocked on, but with the Wanderers' forwards dominating the set pieces and Man of the Match, Sam Rowe, playing superbly at scrum half, it was only a couple of minutes before Clark was able to repeat his run in for a second try. The home side didn't seem to have any answer for the pace of the Writtle backs and with forwards, John Blanchfield and Martyn Howarth, punching holes in the Saffron Walden lines, further tries for Clark and Tim Janes added to their misery!
Following a half time reshuffle which removed Clark, the Wanderers forwards decided it was about time they got on the score sheet! This was achieved through Glen Richards, whose excellent support work was rewarded as he took the final pass on a classy move to go in under the posts. Sam Rowe also collected a try to seal his Man of the Match performance and round off the scoring. With the long grass taking it's toll on many players, the Wanderers spent much of the last 20 minutes defending in their own half, but solid defence kept the home side out.
The final minutes of the game gave us the comedy moment of the season to date, with legendary winger, "Knock On" Jon Williams taking a pass with 15 unopposed yards to cover to score his first ever try for the club! However, as the cover came across, Jon dived for the line and the crowd went up - only to realise that the line he had dived over was the 5 metre line and not the try line!
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